As a host, what happens if i don’t review a guest?

Answered!
Willow8
Level 3
Ericeira, Portugal

As a host, what happens if i don’t review a guest?

Hey fellow hosts, 

 

Just had a pretty terrible guest who I’m sure left a negative review (which is awaiting my review) and I’m hesitant to leave one at all, or do I go with a neutral one even tho in truth I don’t recommend them?

 

Do I then write a public response to their negative review, assuming they did so? Or, what happens if I don’t write one at all -does theirs also not get posted? 

 

Thanks in advance for your advice! 

1 Best Answer
J-Renato0
Level 10
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

@Willow8

I think @Fred13 suggestion is great. I go with him.

 

In additon or as an alternative, I have an idea to test. Anyway, I have never done what I am going to say.
If you are sure the guest is going to write an unfair and negative review you could leave something like the following: "I strongly recommend reading my response to this guest´s review by visiting my listing page (Title of the Listing) or by visiting my profile page".

Maybe  it is kind of a checkmate! And of course, give the guest a thumb down!

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71 Replies 71
Lilia22
Level 6
Bluffton, SC

@Fred126 So glad I WAS WRONG!!!  Even thou there wasn't any communication to my liking and as described that I need from my guest, he gave me a 5 out of 5!!

 

At the beginning of my journey here, I bent backwards for a couple of guests just for them to turn around and give me 4 out of 5 in a couple of categories!  The category the killed me the most, and still does because I am only at 4.9 is location!

 

So, here's what I have done to solve a couple of "issues": 4 for location = "I am sorry you did not like the location; I have tons of pictures that describe exactly where the location of the villa is.  Really don't know what else to do!" (Which implies, they didn't read anything or just look at the pictures!)

 

And the guest that forgot to leave me a message: I sent him a PM asking that when he had time to please leave me a kind word (I know that all went very well with their stay).  He complied right away and even apologized!  So, don't be afraid of "chasing" someone for your review.  As long as you are polite... like they say, one catches flies better with honey than vinegar!

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

Good show @Lilia22. I have had the 'coldest' of guests leave the most unexpected positive reviews, so as a result if I am not sure which way their sentiments are headed, I play it neutral, just in case. 😉

O.K. We are leaving a revew of our bad guests "This guest is better suited to hotel accomodation." What comes next? Is he banned from Airbnb? No, he can still do instant booking and the host who cancell his reservation will be punished! Yes, we can switch from instant booking to bookings asking requests - but in this way our bookings will be affected... 

I had a guest - broke me an item worth aroung 100 euro, stolen me an item worth more then 100 euro, paid for 3 days stay just above 50 euro. And is protesting that I am asking to pay me the deposit of 100 euro! Saying that I am asking more than he paid for the 3-days stay! 

Yes, he left the flat very clean, and obeyed the house rules. What kind of review worning other guests have I to wright? 

 

@Lilly28, you should leave a thumbs down in the review, so he cannot instant book, when the host choose IB for recommended guests only. 3 stars in a category, so he does not get your listing in the search again and can’t IB you. 

It’s difficult to write someone stole, if you did not sue and get a conviction, but you could write something like “I regret I did not do an inventary at arrival and at departure, counting every single item. “ 

The “better suited to a hotel” formula would not give enough warning, as such behaviour not tolerated in hotels either. - even if a hotel will take it out of the guests credit card with no discussion, which makes it easier for them. 

@Lilly28 sorry you had a bad guest! i personally don't have antique items that they can steal or break.  One thing I have discovered that is important - even though you have made and published a list of all things in your listing - YOU have to have proof - like video or photos of the rooms and items before these guest arrived and after they left - PROOF, Airbnb really wants proof. 

Did the guest tell you they broke something? I think stuff can get broken, esp. antiques but stealing - did you call the police and file a report of thief?  I think Airbnb would expect this.

Are you 100% sure something was stolen - or was it misplaced, broken and thrown out to hide the break??

Just my thoughts.

hope you have a good outcome, keep us posted and hope it gets better - most guest are great!

Best, Clara

@Clara116, Unfortunately, I do not think there is a way to prove theft to airbnb any more. If something is missing and the guest denies taking it or even noticing it, it would be an unexplained disappearance, specifically excluded from cover.

I had pictures taken 2 hours before checkin and they were disregarded in a damage and lost items claim. The guest’s statement to the contrary of photograped evidence prevailed.

 

Over the ladt 10 months, I had a sex offender, keeping up his written messages for days after checkout, a racist, where airbnb took down several of his reviews for me and another host, a review stipulating the place was so bad, the guest could not spend the night here, whilst I could prove she was here at breakfast, and a guest causing extensive damage. All of them are still on the platform. In case of the racist, taking down both sides of all reviews has done him a favour. He had answered relatively mild reviews with wild racist insults, which would have been a clear warning. He also confirmed that of course he had searched my room and the other host’s affairs. It was our fault for not locking up. The warning is gone, he is free to book again. 

Therefore I think, the best thing to do is writing a clear review  wich cannot be constructed as libelous. Speaking about your experience, how you lived it, should be safe. 

Shera2
Level 2
New York, NY

It happened to me today. I had a guest who was impossible, was rude to other guests, and broke house. I told her that if she would like to cut her stay short, I would give her a full refund, which I did. I thought she could not review me if I did not review her; she left an entire novel on the 14th day, attacking my character and accusing me of being racist. Fortunately some of her comments violated Airbnb‘s terms so they took them down, but her one star rating stuck. I wish I had warned other hosts about her, I haven’t thought about it that way. 

If her 'lunatic' review was taken down, why would her equally non-sane 'star rating' have stayed? This is a classic case when Airbnb is so entrenched in 'policy', their decisions oftentimes lack any degree of common sense. In essence, they allow lunacy, in part.

I believe the comment section can be edited by “normal” staff, whilst the stars feed directly into a statistic, that only a system administrator could change.  Maybe it is too risky for the data base to allow normal staff to interfere (most administrators would say so) or the two parts of the review, the text and the numerical values are dissociated as soin as the review is sent. Probably both. 

But from an user’s point of view it’s illogical. 

It happens also, if someone retracts a review. only the text is removed. 

 

Ian_Janice0
Level 4
Longmont, CO

@ Janice

I recently took a chance on a guest that had one very diplomatic bad reivew and no recommendations. Unfortunately we also felt she was very dirty and messy and had high suspicion of smoking since there were cigarette burns in the bottom of several of my coffee cups. She left us as well as her last hosts very sweet reviews.

We left a diplomatic poor review. Polite and timely communicator but more suited for a hotel environment were there is full housekeeing support. 3 Star and a thumbs down. I have heard that a thumbs down means not reommended and she will be blocked from renting from a host who has a screen to only accept recommended guests.

 

David4423
Level 1
England, United Kingdom

As far as I know, nothing. You still get the benefit of the guest's review.

Unfortunately the Air BNB review system is heavily weighted in favour of the guests. I had a guest who wrote a review that started out with an out and out untruth, namely that I hadn't sent directions to the property. Air BNB could verify that I had by checking the message stream between me and the guest but apparently Air BNB's policy is that they will only remove abusive reviews....untrue ones remain!If you are unlucky enough to get a difficult guest there is not much you can do if they decide they want to wreck your rating. I now check all prospective guests' reviews before approving a booking so please do leave an honest review about your problem guest...as hosts we need to protect each other ...Air BNB won't!

I had a guest stay recently, that I hesitate to review truthfully. She didn’t destroy my house, but just contacted me excessively (months before her rental), then after her two night stay, sent me 9 messages about various outlandish recommendations she thought I could improve my property with. None of which I think were reasonable suggestions. I would never want this guest at my property again for any length of time. How would you review this guest?  

I worry that an honest and not good  review will invite retaliation - these people now know where your property is.  I now only accept guests with positive host reviews, preferably several.

Hello lovely hosts!.. I need an advice please. Yesterday was one of those shocking days. A person made a request for an old friend. He mentioned she was 75 years old. I spoke with him before accepting the request and I told him that typically I would not accept the request  without having the profile of the person checked out by airbnb. I checked his. He was a member from airbnb since 2016 and he was located about 15 minutes away from me. He said that if anything I could give him a call. So I accepted the request. The person came....she ended up being indeed an old lady but she had all the demeanor of a homeless person(with multiple bags of personal belongings, multiple layers of clothes and smelling like urine)... I was shocked!!!!

I called him right away and said all that to him and he only said to me ...well. maybe she could not hold it!  ... after several conversations between him, the lady, and my husband he sent an uber and she was gone. Her behavior was scary, she was aggressively knocking at my door and trying to even open it by force before leaving. I was shaking while carrying my newborn baby. A terrifying experience. The guy who made the reservation for her just left me a review and he even sent me a text msn accusing me of discriminating against an old person furtner stating that he would report me to law enforcement. Which obviously doesn't make any sense but I am so scared about seeing what he wrote. I am totally new to this. My husband and myself have the best intentions of having people at our place but ... common "homeless people" my apologies but respectfully to everyone i do not consider airbnb a shelter for homeless even though someone pays for it. 

I don't know what to do.. any advices are really appreciated.